School bus safety measures after week of crashes

NOW: School bus safety measures after week of crashes
NEXT:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Local school districts are looking into increasing safety measures, after three kids were killed, and another hurt, as they walked to their bus stop in Fulton County.

A video, showing flashier school bus stop signs, has gone viral over the weekend as people around the country demand more ways to keep their kids safe.

"I actually ran one in my neighborhood where my kids live, on accident," recalls Danny Ringer. "The school bus was pulled up to a T and I could have gone straight or made a right hand turn. I made the turn. The school bus driver started shaking her finger at me and honking her horn. I was wondering, what in the world?

With that simple honk, Ringer realized, he had blown through a school bus stop sign. 

All he could think about is what could have happened.

"I wanted to save lives because I couldn't live with myself if I ran a little kid over when I ran that stop sign," he adds. 

That was three years ago. Since then, he's been working on prototypes for "Safely Cross" and with school districts around the country to implement these new flashier, more visible stop arms. 

On the day that three children were hit and killed in Rochester, he knew this was even more necessary.

It crushes me because they're kids. All the reason I was able to sleep that night when I found out about those kids, was because I had just installed it on a Madison Parish bus [in Louisiana]," Ringer says. "There are always going to be accidents. But if we can reduce it by 70 or 80, 8/10 kids might still be alive. And that's a good thing."

South Bend Community School Corporation is one of the many school districts that are looking for ways to keep kids safe as they go to and from school. While they already have cameras, they're in the process of arming buses with rear stop arms.

Penn-Harris Madison district also has dual stop arms. They also have more convenient, safer pickup locations for kids who live on busy highways. 

Parents nationwide are gearing up. 

"I've had about 25 different school districts contact me about putting this on their school buses," says Ringer. "I'd like o see them on all of the school buses around the United States." 

While a price isn't pinpointed just yet, because they're still on the prototype phase, Ringer says this past week rang an alarm that the country needed. 

"I've had citizens contact us, asking how they can purchase them so they can donate them to schools," he adds. "It warms my heart because it's going to save lives."

ABC57 News did also reach out to Elkhart, Plymouth, and Tippecanoe Valley School Corporations. As of air-time, there were no responses.

Share this article: